AN EGYPTIAN LIMESTONE RELIEF

SAITE PERIOD, DYNASTY XXVI, 664-525 B.C.

Details

AN EGYPTIAN LIMESTONE RELIEF
Saite Period, Dynasty XXVI, 664-525 B.C.
The surface striated in an irregular vertical pattern, sculpted in sunk relief with two male figures facing right, wearing kilts and short wigs, the leader carrying an entwined lotus and papyrus, the second a fowl and lotus, with hieroglyphs reading "funerary priest" in the field between them
13¾ in. (34.9 cm) high

Provenance

Antiquities and Islamic Art, Sotheby's New York, 28 November 1990, lot 41

Lot Essay

For similar reliefs from the tomb of Mentuemhat see pp. 399-401 in Berman, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Catalogue of Egyptian Art. Mentuemhat, fourth prophet of the god Amun and Mayor of Thebes, was one of the most powerful administrators of his time. He was interred in Western Thebes in an enormously large and impressively designed and decorated tomb from which this vignette likely comes.

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